Circular economy for sustainable fashion: From food to fashion,

The aim of the paper is to analyse an increasingly problem connected with the generation of waste created along the entire food industry chain and transform it in an opportunity. The reuse of this waste to produce fashion items it gives new life to the waste itself. This is the principle of the circular economy. In order to be competitive companies are today facing the needs to change the entire production model by trying to extract the maximum value that each resource has at its disposal, avoiding the creation of waste. The shift from the linear model to the circular one needs social and economic instruments that regulate its functioning as well as the sensitization of the entire social system. The transition to this circular model has become of fundamental importance and one can no longer afford to procrastinate. In the research particular attention is paid on the possibilities of recovering by-products, through the analysis of 5 best practices: Orange Fiber, Duedilatte, Vegea, Piñatex and S. Café. The paper investigates the companies’ business models adopted in order to transform what is considered waste and a mere cost into a new resource with a new value and the application of the Social Development Goals (SDGs). Two research questions have been investigated: - Can the use of food waste in fashion industry reduce the impact of the polluting? - What SDGs follow the companies of the fashion circular economy? Food and fashion, apparently so far apart, are today collaborating more and more in creating new value, while at the same time helping our planet to reach sustainable long-lasting goals by promoting, at the same time, a fundamental shift from traditional fashion to sustainable fashion able to apply the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle for offering to consumers new opportunities for a sustainable approach to fashion demand.